Rhetorical Context In this highly sensitive age, political correctness plays a key role in society, including the entertainment sector. Comedians often have to sensor their shows in order to accommodate this politically correct movement. While political correctness has been around since the 1930s, it is now more prevalent than ever, especially on college campuses, where comedians often perform. Part of the reason for the widespread presence is the media’s involvement. Whenever a controversial joke is made, the media is the first to report on the issue. In this social media crazed world, stories dealing with debatable subjects go viral in a matter of minutes. Not only does this jeopardize the comedian’s reputation, but add more fire to the
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Seinfeld tells a narrative in the beginning of his argument that utilizes concrete language to capture the attention of his audience. Once at a show, he was poking fun at the way people scroll through their phone like a “gay French king.”. He claims, “comedy is where you can feel an opinion,” and the audience did not react positively to his homosexual joke (“Jerry Seinfeld is…”). Seinfeld believes he should not have to apologize for an observation he has made, and that there is “a creepy PC thing out there that really bothers [him]” (“Jerry Seinfeld is…”). The comedian recreates the situation for his audience so they can firsthand see the awkwardness he is placed in, when an audience reacts poorly to a joke that he feels is fine to tell. Through these tactics, the audience feels emotionally connected to Seinfeld’s plea, and want to see a change for his …show more content…
In particularly liberal colleges, like UCLA, Wesleyan, and Yale, “left-wing student activism aimed at shutting down the expression of contrary viewpoints” (Chait). Chait claims that political correctness is very present in social media, and often is supported by professionals, which only adds fuel to the fire. “[Political correctness] is the expression of a political culture with consistent norms, and philosophical premises that happen to be incompatible with liberalism” (Chait). Many protesting students believe they are representing anti-racism, and movements such as “black lives matter” are near and dear to their heart (Chait). In Seinfeld’s argument, he is one of the first celebrities to actively speak out against political correctness, and add another side to the debate. His argument came at a time when people were questioning the validity of political correctness. Widespread movements like “black lives matter” took society by whirl, but left a lot of the community wondering why it was just “black lives” mattered, and not all lives. Was political correctness pushing the boundaries? People needed another opinion on the topic, and Jerry Seinfeld delivered to those particular onlookers with his critique of political
Seinfeld tells a narrative in the beginning of his argument that utilizes concrete language to capture the attention of his audience. Once at a show, he was poking fun at the way people scroll through their phone like a “gay French king.”. He claims, “comedy is where you can feel an opinion,” and the audience did not react positively to his homosexual joke (“Jerry Seinfeld is…”). Seinfeld believes he should not have to apologize for an observation he has made, and that there is “a creepy PC thing out there that really bothers [him]” (“Jerry Seinfeld is…”). The comedian recreates the situation for his audience so they can firsthand see the awkwardness he is placed in, when an audience reacts poorly to a joke that he feels is fine to tell. Through these tactics, the audience feels emotionally connected to Seinfeld’s plea, and want to see a change for his …show more content…
In particularly liberal colleges, like UCLA, Wesleyan, and Yale, “left-wing student activism aimed at shutting down the expression of contrary viewpoints” (Chait). Chait claims that political correctness is very present in social media, and often is supported by professionals, which only adds fuel to the fire. “[Political correctness] is the expression of a political culture with consistent norms, and philosophical premises that happen to be incompatible with liberalism” (Chait). Many protesting students believe they are representing anti-racism, and movements such as “black lives matter” are near and dear to their heart (Chait). In Seinfeld’s argument, he is one of the first celebrities to actively speak out against political correctness, and add another side to the debate. His argument came at a time when people were questioning the validity of political correctness. Widespread movements like “black lives matter” took society by whirl, but left a lot of the community wondering why it was just “black lives” mattered, and not all lives. Was political correctness pushing the boundaries? People needed another opinion on the topic, and Jerry Seinfeld delivered to those particular onlookers with his critique of political